Regroove works with many exciting and vibrant businesses to allow their Microsoft Teams communities to come to life. During the technical setup (such as ensuring everyone has fast enough internet speeds and pushing the Microsoft Teams app out to all users), governance planning is a vital step to deploying Microsoft Teams within an organization.
It is important to lead the governance project by deciding on the various governance policies your organization needs to provide structure to your Microsoft Teams environment. (If Microsoft Teams or Microsoft Teams Governance is brand new to you, consider reading this blog by Regroove: Microsoft Teams Governance: How to Plan Policies for Your Teams Environment).
A large client within the health industry approached Regroove looking for assistance rolling out Microsoft Teams to their organization. Regroove was brought in as Microsoft cloud specialists to provide industry experience and technical knowledge of how to plan a successful organization-wide rollout.
Challenge
The organization did not have any internal resources with the depth and breath of specific knowledge of Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Teams that was needed to facilitate the governance planning process.
A focal point of the rollout was working with various stakeholders within the large corporation to form a Microsoft 365 Steering Committee. This group would take a leadership role and be responsible for setting policies for the entire organization.
The volume of decisions and the time required to gain the technical knowledge to make informed decisions was lengthy. Getting everyone in the same room and on the same page was necessary to ensure their choices did not negatively impact a department or working groups’ ability to be productive.
Implementing strict controls on what people do was necessary for security and compliance. However, being too strict can limit staff’s ability to be productive, for example, by denying them access to use useful apps. It can also restrict their ability to self-serve, for example, when they need a new Microsoft Team or channel created. This puts the workload back on IT, which can create delays and impact efficiency.
Finding a balance is a challenge. The client’s leadership wanted clear guidance on which decisions to prioritize and implement to meet or exceed industry best practices – to be secure, without impacting staff ability to collaborate.
Solution
Hosting a series of governance planning sessions was the main solution for this client. Regroove prepared by compiling the most current information on Microsoft Teams. A Microsoft Teams Governance Best Practices Guide was created to provide the client with a complete, current, curated list of decision points.
Next, a series of planning sessions were carried out with the leadership team to create space for discussions and decision making. Regroove guided the meeting, provided knowledge transfer, and shared their recommendations.
Finally, a report was delivered that summarized the company’s decisions and the reasons behind them.
To share an example of one decision point: how the organization wanted Microsoft 365 groups to be provisioned or created. Their options included:
- Open (i.e. Anyone can do it),
- IT-led (i.e. Only IT can do it so all request must be submitted to IT),
- Controlled (i.e. A small group of people can do it), or
- Controlled with process automation (i.e. Using forms, workflows, and approvals).
After much discussion, the client opted to control who could create a Microsoft 365 group to ensure only individuals who are trained and understand the correct setup process can do the work. This option limits the potential “sprawl” without placing complete reliance on IT to perform the task that is not particularly complicated.
Examples of other decisions made during the planning sessions included:
- How Microsoft Teams are named and classified,
- Whether guests can be added as team members,
- Who can create teams and private channels,
- Who will manage the lifecycle of a team,
- If expiration, retention, and archiving policies should be implemented to manage the lifecycle of a team,
- Which apps will be pinned to the Teams App Bar,
- Which Microsoft and external third-party apps people will have access to,
- What types of meetings can be setup by people,
- Which meeting features can be used (screen sharing, requesting control, whiteboard, etc.),
- How meeting participants can join a meeting (automatically, lobby, etc.), and
- What threat management settings should be turned on and to what severity they should be tuned.
These are just some of the decision points. This list grows as Microsoft adds additional functionality. We suggest reviewing this excellent guide created by Microsoft to learn more: Plan for governance in Teams – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs
Why Does Microsoft Teams Governance Help Clients Increase Efficiency?
Incorporating Microsoft Teams governance planning into Microsoft Teams deployment allows clients to confidently configure and deploy this new communication and collaboration tool to their colleagues. This is important with the increase in remote and hybrid working. You can read about Regroove’s tips for hybrid working here.
Implementing Microsoft Teams governance accelerates the ability to make informed decisions to implement policies to roll out Microsoft Teams to staff right away. Hiring a knowledgeable Microsoft Teams consultant limits Microsoft Teams roll-out delays, as you can rely on a team of technical experts to do the research.
Regroove aggregated and curated decisions and their impact using the most current information available. It is important to note that Microsoft releases weekly and monthly changes and our team prioritizes staying on top of what is coming and what matters.
What technology was this solution built with?
This solution was powered by Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
Outcome
A well set-up Microsoft Teams environment was the outcome of this Regroove solution. The client now has a well-structured and maintained Microsoft Teams environment.
All client staff, including administrators and end users, were equipped with a report of key decision points and reasons why Microsoft Teams policies were executed and a Microsoft Teams governance guide to continue their success.
The Microsoft 365 Steering Committee meets on a recurring basis to evaluate previous decision points. This determines if changes need to be made due to the existence of new features within Microsoft Teams or the growing proficiency of Microsoft Teams by their IT administrators, management, and information workers.
Benefits of Microsoft Teams Governance
A range of benefits were gained from Regroove implementing Microsoft Teams governance, including:
- The client gained expert assistance rolling out Microsoft Teams to their organization and gained a wealth of knowledge and industry experience.
- Regroove empowered the client with information and allowed them to make decisions based on what mattered to them as an organisation.
- Trusting a consultant with setting up your Microsoft Teams environment saves you time, both short term and in long term maintenance.
- Regroove continues to connect on an ongoing basis to highlight new features, impacts and provide direction on what the client should adopt to further enhance their use of Microsoft Teams (e.g. using Microsoft Viva).
- The client is now able to communicate and collaborate easier than ever, particularly in a hybrid or remote setting.
Conclusion
The importance of correctly setting up your Microsoft Teams environment cannot be understated. Not only does this save time and offer a wealth of benefits but, in the long term, installing correct Microsoft Teams governance can set up a great workplace virtual environment for collaboration. Microsoft Teams is an extremely powerful tool, so it is crucial to have an optimal set-up and make high-level Microsoft Teams governance decisions before getting too far down the line.
Looking for assistance developing a comprehensive Microsoft Teams governance plan? Regroove can help! Get in touch at regroove.ca to get started with one of our governance specialists.